It was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018 when McLaren unveiled its most powerful Sports Series model – the 600LT Coupé. Now, the folks from Woking, England, have unwrapped the convertible version of it. Tagged simply as the McLaren 600LT Spider, it is the fifth model from the British luxury sportscar maker to carry the LT (Longtail) badge and third model under the company’s Track25 plan. No points for guessing, it is essentially the same as its Coupé sibling, only a bit heavier, slightly slower at the top end and can make the roof disappear in a matter of seconds.

How much heavier? The figure is 50 kilograms. However, McLaren claims that the 600LT Spider is still at least 80kg lighter than any of its direct rivals. The added weight is all down to the complex mechanism which is required to operate the retractable hardtop. Speaking of which, the two-seater sportscar can gain or lose its top at speed of up to 40kmph. There’s also a powered wind deflector which can be raised independently of the hardtop.

Behind the pretty exterior, the 600LT Spider is exactly the same as the Coupé. The convertible is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8 engine which puts out 600PS of power and 620Nm of torque. The oomph is fed to the rear wheels via a dual-clutch 7-speed automatic transmission. The 600LT Spider can crack the 0-100kmph sprint in 2.9 seconds, which is the same as the Coupé, and reach 200kmph from nothing in 8.4 seconds – 0.2 seconds slower than its fixed-roof version. The Spider’s top speed with the roof down and with the roof up is 315kmph and 324kmph respectively.

Thankfully, the 600LT Spider doesn’t lose out on the dual top-exhausts and the fixed carbon fibre spoiler at the rear. McLaren claims that at 250kmph, the rear wing generates 100km of downforce. The cabin flaunts lightweight Alcantara upholstery and carbon fibre racing seats from the McLaren P1. On the options list, the car can be had with the seats designed for the McLaren Senna with or without the MSO Clubsport Pack. To save some more weight, McLaren will charge you a fee to take away creature comforts like audio and climate control systems.

Just like its fixed-roof sibling, the McLaren 600LT Spider will be built on made to order basis. What’s more, it will available for a limited period and will be put together by hand at McLaren Production Centre in Woking. As far as pricing is concerned, it starts at 201,500 GBP with taxes (UK). Translate that into INR and at the current exchange rate, it will pop over Rs 1.84 crore.